Page 129 of Almost Always

AUGUST

It was finallythe day.

Despite what tradition dictated—separate rooms and all that—they couldn’t stay away from each other. He’d come to her tiny home after a fire and they’d spent hours tracing bodies. The sex was always wild and passionate, but the night before had been something else. Almost like he was afraid that once they got married, everything would change.Nothingwas going to change. If anything, she was going to be even more demanding in bed. At some point in the middle of the night, he’d kissed her before leaving. There was at least one tradition they were going to follow—showing up to town hall separately.

By the time she was up, showered and drinking her third cup of coffee, Roe arrived with her saree and a bag full of makeup. They spent an hour screaming over the ring, even though her best friend had seen it in a photograph and on FaceTime, then took Boots for a walk. Ever since they’d decided to try for a baby, Monroe had been tiptoeing around the topic. So during the walk, she pried every detail out of her best friend and was so excited to see her become a mother. The sadness she felt before was no longer there. Maybe because she was marrying the love of herlife and getting a son in the process. Or because she’d finally accepted that this was what her life would look like. And if she was being honest, it was a pretty good looking life.

Back at the house, Daisy sat at the kitchen table as her best friend gasped over every hickey she uncovered. There werea lot. She was certain she’d left a whole bunch on Rafferty too, but when he had her bent over in front of the mirror, he’d been gnawing at her neck and shoulder. Like he was struggling to control himself.

“Hussy,” Roe teased, dabbing foundation above her right breast. “Tell me everything.”

She winced because even though it had been a few hours since he’d bitten her, it still stung. “The mirror played ahugepart.”

“Oh my god. Thosewerehandprints.”

She cackled, because with everything going on, Daisy forgot to wipe the mirror. She didn’t care, though. It had been some of the best sex of her life. Honestly, everything with her husband-to-be was turning out to be the best of her life. The intense and genuine way he loved her, the mind-blowing sex and of course the joy she felt.

“How many?”

She pretended to count, unfurling one finger at a time. Roe’s eyes widened when she shrugged. “I lost count after five?”

“You bitch. You really got dicked down, didn’t you?”

“And yes, his dick reaches all of my unchartered territories.”

Roe stared at her and then cracked up, making her laugh as well. She’d never shared this kind of information with anyone before, always assuming it would be considered TMI. With Roe, it was different. Daisy had been wary of sharing things with her at first, but twelve years into their friendship and there was nobody better to stand by her side.

“Oh honey, did his Godzilla dick hurt you?”

She snorted, then realized she was crying. “Fuck.” She wiped at her face furiously and sighed. “Thinking about us, you and me, and how far we’ve come. How glad I am to be your best friend.”

“Don’t make me cry,” Roe said, sniffling as she hugged her. “I knew at that singles’ event that you would be my soulmate and I was right. You’re stuck with me until we die.”

She squeezed her friend back and they stayed like that for a long moment. “Okay,” she said, blowing out a breath. “We need to finish getting ready or I’m going to be late.”

Roe smiled and they released each other, taking turns to wash their faces. Then her best friend resumed covering up her hickeys and applying a simple layer of makeup. Sitting there with her eyes closed as she was attended to, Daisy thought about how amazing her life had turned out to be. Who would have thought that she would reconnect with Rafferty at the beginning of the year and then end it as his wife? She couldn’t help the smile that tugged at her mouth at the thought, because it was absolutely ridiculous to think about how much her life changed.

“All right, get dressed,” Roe said.

She took a deep breath and stared at her reflection. “Wow.” She would never be absolutely comfortable in front of a mirror, but Rafferty was helping in small ways. It definitely didn’t hurt when orgasms were the reward for looking at herself in the full length mirror while completely naked.

Roe joined her a few minutes later and sat down on her bed where Boots was lounging half asleep. He was supposed to leave with Rafferty, but the furry horse refused to budge and neither of them forced him out of there. She pulled on her underskirt and tightened the strings at the waist to make sure it would hold the six yards that made up her wedding outfit. Monroe helped her into the sheer long-sleeved blouse and as she adjusted the arms, her best friend hooked the thin straps that held the whole thing up in the back.

With shaky hands—mostly from excitement than nerves—she wrapped the cream saree around her body. Roe stood by with safety pins and held the extra sections while Daisy did most of the work. A few days after the proposal, she’d shown up at the Bower house with her laptop and they went through every Indian store online until she found the perfect saree. She hadn’t told Rafferty what she was wearing, but she knew that a saree was the only outfit that would work for her big day. To hide it from him, she’d had the saree delivered to their residence and was glad that it arrived on time and looked as good as it did in the picture.

“Queen,” Roe whispered and Daisy turned slowly, making sure she’d gotten every pleat perfectly, and the length was right as well.

Turning to the dog, she smiled. “What do you think, Boots?”

He barked once and sat up, tongue hanging out and it definitely looked like he was smiling. She sat down beside him and he dropped his head onto her lap as Roe did the final touches to her makeup. She’d chosen to leave her hair loose, spilling down her back and over her shoulders in thick waves, vintage floral combs holding it away from her face. They’d also decided to skip her collection of necklaces and settled on the gold one Rafferty had given her. In her ears, she wore solitaires that belonged to Aunt Magnolia and other than Nonna Ames’s ring, she had nothing else on her hands.

“He’s going to die when he sees you.”

“That defeats the purpose of marrying him.”

“You can revive him with that vagina that he’s clearly addicted to,” Roe countered as Daisy’s phone pinged. “I’ll take Boots out to the car, meet you there in five?”

She nodded and reached for the device as Boots followed Monroe down the stairs and out of the house.

---